Yu-Gi-Oh! GTR Season 1
by seniorcopycat
Summary: The series follows a boy named Ren Kastler, an aspiring duelist and recent orphan, who discovers a small black kitten and a strange card that gives him strange powers. One by one his friends also discover similar cards and gain similar powers. On the way Ren learns that a criminal organization called The Light is after him and now he and his friends must unite to stop them.
1. In the Beginning

**Yu-Gi-Oh! GTR**

**Episode 1: In the Beginning**

Dim light filled the underground cavern. A drop of water splashed from the ceiling into one of the dark, quiet pools that littered the cave. The sound of footsteps echoed the roundish cave.

A young fifteen-year old boy named Ren Kastler makes his way down the long and dark underground tunnel. He looked confused and anxious as he traveled further and further into the darkness.

"What is this place?" he wondered "Hello!"

Before Ren could take another step, a blinding flash of light illuminated the cave, causing him to cover his eyes.

"Hey! What's going on?" Ren cried, as the eerie light slowly filled the entire cavern.

The light soon faded ad Ren uncovered his eyes, which widen when he saw a diabolic door with a demonic face wrapped in chains standing in front of him.

The door spoke with a deep and demonic voice.

"Whoever opens this door will obtain a great new power but know that with such a reward comes great risk." The Door explained, "Have you the courage to unlock this power?"

Ren was confused by the Doors statement "'Great risk'? What great risk?" Ren asked, "Tell me!"

Suddenly the ground below him crumbles away causing him to fall into an abyss. He screamed as fell.

* * *

Back in reality, Ren tumbled right out his bed and landed face first on his bedroom floor. He groaned in pain.

"These nightmares are beginning to be a pain, literally." Ren muttered as he rubbed his pale face, brushed his long and spiky hair out of his pale face and got up. He glanced at the clock and his eyes widen with shock. "Snap! I overslept!" he cried, "Oh, man I'm going to be late! Better get ready!"

Ren quickly changed out of his pajamas and put on a black jacket over a purple hoodie, dark blue jeans and brown shoes. He also took his long black hair and tied it back into a long ponytail. He smiled at the mirror.

"Perfect!" Ren remarked. He grabs his Duel Monsters cards off his dresser and placed them in his cardholder, which was attached to his belt.

He rushed over to a large, black chest threw it open. "Now where is it?" he asked out loud "Aha! There it is!" Ren took out his Duel Disk, which was sold black, had a yellow gem and purple striped accents.

"Oh yeah, I'm GTR!" Ren remarked.

He quickly rushed out of his bedroom and down the stairs as fast as his legs could run. He dashes past a large, elderly man with grayish-white hair and blue eyes sitting on the couch reading a book.

"So where's the fire boy?" the man asked.

Ren ran back to living room and jogged in place."Oh, sorry Grandpa Dudley, I'm just on my way to meet Zoey and Mason, that's all,"

"You kids going anywhere special?" Grandpa Dudley asked.

"The Duel Dome, it just opened yesterday and I want to check it out," Ren replied.

"Ok, ok, well you have fun sport," Grandpa Dudley told him "Just make sure you're here by curfew,"

"Ok, ok, GTR," Ren said to his Grandfather, before heading toward the front door.

Grandpa Dudley grunted again, stopping him "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"I am?" Ren asked confused. Grandpa Dudley tosses him a rectangular bar; he rips off the wrapping to reveal a chocolate bar. "Aw, sweet, just what the doctor ordered, thanks Grandpa Dudley,"

"Oh, you're welcome kiddo," The big man said to him "Have a good time,"

"I will, catch you later Grandpa!" Ren cried before heading out.

He jumped onto his bicycle and started riding down the street. Ren peddled hard and fast, he could not wait to get to the park and duel. The game Duel Monsters had been his obsession for as long as he could remember and he planned to be the best duelist in the world and nothing was going to stop him.

* * *

Ren took a large bite out of his chocolate bar and checks his watch for the umpteenth time as he sat outside a small café. He was expecting someone to be there. A young server approached time, ready to take his order. She spoke in a Chicago accent.

"Hey there, handsome," the server said.

Ren turned and immediately recognized her; it was Zoey Solomon, one of his closest friends and a fellow duelist.

Zoey had long and wild light green hair with a patch of orange and yellow eyes. She wore purple eyeliner and lipstick on her face. Star shaped earrings and a white choker. Aside from her normal attire, she wore s purple and yellow hat matching a yellow waitressing outfit.

"Zoey!" Ren smiled.

"So, what can I get for you today, cutie?" Zoey asked.

"Uh, just water," Ren replied "I'm still waiting for Mason,"

Zoey groaned in annoyance "Oh, big surprise there, cheapskate,"

Ren shrugged before a long yawn came over him.

"Hey, you ok there sweets?" The green haired girl asked "You look sorta tired,"

"Huh? No, I'm fine," Ren assured her before yawning once more "Ok, maybe a little tired,"

"You could probably use a little sleep there. I once went a whole three days without sleeping you know…" Zoey said, she then shuddered "It wasn't pretty, afterwards,"

Ren smiled in amusement then took another bite out his chocolate bar "Where they heck is Mason anyway?" he asked before checking his watch. "Always late…"

All of a sudden, a loud whistle caught Ren and Zoey's attention. He looks up ahead and sees a tall and lean boy with navy blue hair and a pair of sideburns walking over.

The boy had polished blue eyes and wore a light orange jacket with brown accents over a white dress shirt. He also wore a brown belt, dark green pants and brown shoes.

Like Ren, he also carried a Duel Disk attached to his left arm. His was orange with brown accents and a blue gem.

"Mason!" Ren cried.

"Hey, did you miss me Ren?" Mason smirked.

Ren and Mason did a strange handshake and smiled.

"Well, well, if it isn't Mason Brown," Zoey remarked "You sure know how to keep a couple of guys waiting, Professor,"

"Oh, do me a favor and pipe down," Mason said annoyed.

"Take it easy you guys," Ren stated, not wanting his friends to fight.

"So, are we heading out or what?" Mason asked Ren.

"You bet!" The ponytailed boy said as he sat up.

"Hey, where are you guys going again?" Zoey asked confused.

Ren turns to Zoey "To that new Duel Dome that just opened, remember?"

"Oh yeah, the Duel Dome!" Zoey realized "I knew I'd remember that!"

Mason rolled his eyes "Of course you did," Zoey scowled at Mason.

"Anyway, since Mason's already seen it he offered to show me around the place," Ren explained "So wanna come along, Zoe?"

"Sorry, can't, gotta work remember?" Zoey reminded them "By the way, here's your water,"

Ren caught bottle of water with ease and nodded in his thanks, "Ok, well, maybe next time then," he said, crumpling up his chocolate bar wrapper and tossing it into a nearby garbage can "Come on, Mase, let's roll,"

"GTR!" Mason nodded.

Both Ren and Mason start to head off when Zoey noticed that Ren's bike was still parked near the café.

"Hey Ren! You forgot your bike!" she cried.

"I'll pick up later," Ren called out "Watch it for me!"

"Ugh, whatever," Zoey grunted.

"Thanks, I owe you one!" Ren said before he and Mason ran off.

"And I'm keeping track Captain Forgetful…" Zoey grumbled.

* * *

Ren and Mason stepped inside huge silver dome-shaped building. Connected to it was six smaller domes. The ceiling was practically a hundred feet high. Kid of all ages entered the building; each of them was carrying cards and Duel Disks. They were Duelists, just like Mason and Ren.

"Whoa! This place is awesome!" Ren exclaimed. "Not to mention totally massive!"

"Yeah, it's pretty impressive, I almost lost it when I first arrived too" Mason nodded "Come on, I'll show you around,"

Mason leads Ren in a clean and white area. There were multiple tables with several kids seated at them and having food delivered to them by waiters. It also had a few shops where some kids were getting and trading new cards.

"Wow, what's this place?" Ren wondered.

"This area is called the 'The Commons', it's where Duelist can relax, eat and just hang out," Mason explained "It's also place where you can exchange helpful hints and strategies while searching for opponents to battle against,"

"Awesome! So, when can we duel?" Ren asked excited, he was just itching to activate his duel disk.

"First we gotta get you registered," Mason told him.

He groaned loudly "Fine,"

Mason and Ren made their way to a small computer and started the registration. As Mason typed in all of Ren's personal data and info Ren tapped his foot impatiently. When were they going to duel?

When it was finally finished, Mason gave Ren a thin, purple card.

"There, all set, now whenever you want to duel you just swipe this card in the machine and you're golden, got it?" Mason asked.

Ren nodded "Got it! So, can we duel _now_?"

"Well I'd like to but…" Mason said, turning his attention to the six large TV screens, each was showing a duel that was currently going on in the respective dome "Unfortunately, it looks like all the domes are taken,"

"What? You mean they got a full house" Ren asked shocked.

"Yeah, sorry man," Mason told his friend.

Ren just shrugged it off "Oh, don't worry, it's actually a good thing; I mean I just can't believe how popular they've made this place in such a short period of time,"

"Yeah, I guess it is kinda cool," Mason added "Come on, let's go grab a seat and wait till one opens up,"

"Cool," Ren said

He and Mason both sat down at one of the round tables. Ren even put his feet on the table and leaned back in relaxed manner. If he was going to wait to duel, he might as well be comfortable.

"You seem awfully relaxed for someone who wanted to duel like right this minute," Mason remarked.

"Eh, well I'm not a little kid anymore and besides people shouldn't freak out over things they can't control," Ren told him "I can't control whether or not the domes will be full or not so why bother complaining about it,"

"Well, there are things we _can_ control you know and _those_ are things I tend to worry about," Mason stated.

"And that's pretty much everything considering you're a total worry wart!" Ren joked.

"Pipe down, you!" Mason growled, clearly embarrassed "Anyway, I can't believe you're so relaxed, I mean here when you duel you being watched by a bunch of people who will do nothing but judge you and practically boo at you if you lose,"

"But I won't lose," Ren assured his friend "I haven't lost yet,"

"You know you've only been dueling for like a year, right?" Mason asked.

"Yeah," the black-haired boy nodded "So?"

"So technically your still a newbie," Mason finished "So don't get too cocky, Ok?

"Yeah, yeah," Ren sighed.

Mason then noticed something on one of the screens "Hey, check it out, I think one of them is almost done!"

Ren turned to a screen behind him. A large explosion was seen and a small kid was knocked off his feet. His life points dropped to zero.

"Game, set and match," The Computer announced "Winner; Francis Fitzgerald,"

The smoke cleared and a tall eighteen-year old stood smiling victorious. He had an orange Mohawk with black and white paint around his face and dark brown eyes. His muscular physique was on display with the black sleeveless shirt adorned with a skull he was wearing. He dawned purple tattoos all over his body and was wearing braces on his arms and legs, wristbands, kneepads over orange pants, and silver shoes with black spikes on them.

He chuckled at the sight of his defeated opponent. "I'm sure you're a real big shot at the playground bro, but I'm looking for someone tougher," Francis told the kid.

"Well, that's guy's harsh," Mason remarked.

"I'll say," Ren agreed "Who is he?"

"Don't know," Mason replied. He turns to one of the kids sitting near them "Hey, you two know that guy?"

"Well…" The kid began. He had an uncomfortable look on his face.

"You know something, don't you?" Ren asked "Come on kid, spill it!"

"I don't know for sure…" he said carefully "But I've heard that he's the boss of a local duel gang and that he forces you to duel him… so I'm told."

Mason was getting impatient "Yeah? And?"

"And if you lose he takes your best card away!" The kid said. He was trembling now.

"What!?" Red cried "Is that really true?"

The kid nodded, Mason shook his head. "This Fistrick guy sounds like a real jerk,"

"He is!" The other kid added.

"What else do you know? Come on!" Ren demanded.

"I'm just telling you what I heard, really!" The kid insisted.

Mason paused and studied the kid "Wait. Did you duel this guy and lose?" Ren asked.

The kid nodded.

"And he took your best card?" Ren added.

"And my lunch money too!" The kid admitted.

Ren stood up "In that case, I say we should have a talk with this Francis guy,"

"Wait," Mason said "You don't mean-"

"I sure do," Ren replied "Come on, let's go!" he called back.

Ren ran off.

Mason shook his head "I was afraid he'd do something like this," he muttered. He then took off after Ren.

It did not take them long to get to the dome where Francis was dueling. As they got closer to the dome, they saw Francis standing in front of the kid he just beat and was holding out his hand. Standing next to him are two other guys named Colton Victors and Haden Eiding.

Colton was a fifteen-year-old teenager who had long black hair with an orange strip in it that covers half of his face. Colton also had paint on his face in the form of black bands under his eyes. He also wore blue pants and black and white shoes.

Haden was a seventeen-year old who had spiky white hair with tan skin. He also had black lines underneath his eyes and wore a black shirt, gray pants and silver shoes with spikes.

"Ok, bro, fork over the card and I won't have to rearrange your face, deal?" Francis demanded impatiently.

The teary-eyed kid then handed Francis his card who snatches out of his hand.

"Pleasure doing business with you bro," Francis said, he looks at the card "Humph, you call this your best card? Pathetic! Well, I guess I could always use this as a coaster or something,"

Francis and his goon's laughs.

"What's so funny?!"

Surprised, Francis and his friends turned to the source of the shout and sees Ren and Mason standing behind him. The kid ran off in fear.

Annoyed Colton glared at Ren "Get lost, shrimp!"

"Yeah, haven't you heard?" Haden asked "This is _our_ turf!"

"No way! This Duel Dome belongs to _everyone_!" Ren shouted.

"Not anymore bro," Francis stated "Look around,"

As Ren did so, he saw a bunch of teenagers scattered around the smaller dome dressed in similar clothing to Francis and his two sidekicks, talking laughing and picking on other smaller duelists.

"This whole place belongs to me and _my_ crew bro," The bully told

"Have you been the one taking kids cards?" Mason asked.

"Heads up bro, looks like we're dealing with a genius here," Fistrick said with a smirk.

"Why are you guys doing this?" Ren demanded.

"Easy, the more rare cards I collect the stronger my deck becomes and the stronger my deck becomes the more cards I can collect," Fistrick explained "And if anyone wants to duel here they'll have to pay up in cards. It's just good business, bro."

Ren could not believe that someone could be so cruel by taking someone's cards and not even care about it. He shakes his angrily "Aw, man…" he muttered angrily.

"What?" Francis asked.

"What you're doing… it's just plain wrong!" Ren proclaimed "To use true duelists are cards are what represent us in battle whether we win or lose. We duel together. We win and lose together. We have fun together. So how dare you take them from away from us!"

"For the fun of it I guess, plus I just like seeing people lose," Fistrick replied, he looked Ren in the eye "What are _you_ gonna do about it, bro?"

"What am I gonna do…?" Ren started before glaring at Fistrick "I'm gonna put a stop to you! I challenge you to a game of Duel Monsters!"

"Ren, don't-" Mason started to say before Ren stopped him. Mason could see that Ren had made up his mind and backed off.

Francis's goons laughed, along with any other goons that were within hearing range.

"Francis dueling someone like _you_ that'll be the day!" The younger hoodlum cried.

"Right," The older hoodlum agreed "So move it or lose it!"

"Can it you two," Francis told his friends "Ok, bro, we'll duel but I'm a bit tired today so why don't we meet here tomorrow afternoon? Winner takes all?"

"Done!" Ren nodded "But if I win you have to return all the cards you took from those kids and you get the heck out of here, got it?"

Francis turned and scoffed "Like that will ever happen. See you then,"

As Francis walked away, Ren stood there with fire burning in his eyes. The challenge had been accepted and the date had been set and Ren couldn't wait to teach that bully a lesson, no one picks on younger duelists without remorse when he was around and Ren planned to keep it that way.

* * *

"Ren, are you really sure about this?" Mason asked Ren as they walked down the street toward their respective houses.

"I am, besides once you challenge someone to a duel you can't take it back, no matter what," Ren reminded him "There's no choice,"

"Yeah, I know but…" Mason started.

"I told you, the decision's been made Mase," Ren said "I'm going to duel Francis and kick him and gang out of here, your with me on this aren't you?"

"Of course! Always!" Mason insisted "It's just…"

"What?" Ren questioned in an annoyed tone.

"Well like I already told you before, your still a bit new to all this and this guy looks to be a pro," Mason explained "I mean he's already beaten six guys in a row. Look, I'm just worried about what you're getting yourself into,"

Ren stops in front of Mason "You think I can't handle it," he said resentfully

"I didn't say that," Mason stated.

Ren turns away "You didn't have to,"

"Ren, I'm not saying I don't have confidence in you, I fact I think you're the only guy who can beat this guy," Mason started "I mean your best duelist in town, even if you've only been dueling for a year,"

"But?" Ren asked, turning to Mason.

"Look, when your dueling don't rush in all half-cocked, you gotta think it?" Mason told him "And remember, every duelist has to have their own style take a moment and then think of _your_ playbook, got it?

Ren sighed "Ok, you're right, thanks,"

"Don't worry about it," Mason assured him "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow,"

"Ok, see you…" Ren said before Mason took off. He lowered his head and sighs "Later,"

The truth was Ren was extremely nervous about dueling Sam but he couldn't back down now and he certainly didn't want to let those kids back the duel dome down.

"_What if he's right? What if my cards aren't powerful enough to beat this bully?_" Ren thought, "_This guy is probably in a different league and I've only been dueling for about a year now, ever since my folks past, since they gave me this deck._" He fanned out his deck, looking thoughtfully at his cards.

Then it hit him.

"Uh oh! My bike! Better go get it!" Ren cried as he started to run down the sidewalk at top speed "Oh, Zoey's going to kill me!"

_Thud!_ Landing face first onto the pavement, Ren groaned in pain, "OW!"Not again…"

Ren stood up on his knees, turned to see what tripped him and sees a large cardboard box sitting in the middle of the sidewalk by itself with no one around.

"Huh? A box?" Ren wondered, "Who put _that_ there? And more importantly what's in it?"

Ren looked over the box and opened it and to his surprise, he saw small black and white cat inside, from what he could tell it appeared to be female and a kitten. It looked up at him with its big emerald green eyes and meowed.

"A kitten? What you doing in here, girl?" Ren asked as he picked her up and examined the kitten.

"No collar? Which means you must have been abandoned, huh?" Ren asked and the kitten meowed, seeming sad, in reply. Ren felt bad for the little thing.

"Poor girl, I'll tell you what, I'm going take care of you!" Ren declared, "I know my Grandpa won't mind. So what do you say? Wanna come and stay with me?"

The kitten meowed happily then rubbed her head against his face and purred.

"Aw, soft as a mitten, and because of that, I'm going to call you Mittens," Devin said "Well that's your new name girl, hope you like it."

Mittens licked his face in reply.

"Hey! That tickles!" Ren said as Mittens continued to lick his face.

The something caught his eye. He looks inside the box again.

He spotted a Duel Monsters card inside the box and held it curiously. It had the image of a warrior with black and purple armor. It looked very powerful.

"I wonder how this got in here with you?" Ren asked Mittens who meowed softly.

He stared at the card for a moment, which seemed to glow with a purple aura and then he remembers.

"Whoops, almost forgot about my bike again! Come on Mitts let's go!" Ren said.

He put the card into his deck and tucked Mittens inside his shirt as he sprinted across the street.

* * *

Storm clouds rolled across the night sky, forming a gray blanket over the city. Thunder roared like an angry dragon. Moments later, jagged lightning lit up the gloom.

In Ren's house below, Ren, his Grandfather and their newest resident, Mittens slept peacefully.

Ren snored loudly while Mittens slept right next to him on his bed. Thunder then rocked the house; Mittens woke up frightened and hid under the covers. Ren just smiled and rolled over.

Mittens then notices a purplish-black mist emanating from Ren's deck, it slowly filled the room. The kitten meowed, tapping her paws against Ren's back, even going as far as jumping on his shoulders causing Ren to shake in hopes of warning him.

Ren finally woke up, groggy, and spoke. "Whoa, Mittens, can you keep it down?" He then noticed Mitten's wide frightened eyes. "What's wrong? Thunder keeping you up?" It was then he saw the mist slowly closing in and scrambled to sit up. "Huh? Hey what's going on here?" Ren asked. Mittens jumps into his arms as the mist slowly closes in on them. He held her tight as the mist enveloped them.

When he opens his eyes, both he and Mittens were in a black and empty space.

"Whoa… this is weird…" Ren said. Mittens meows in agreement. A white light catches his eye. The door had appeared again.

"Hey… it's my dream again!" Ren realized.

"This is no dream," The Door said solemnly "Have you the courage to unlock this power? It is time to decide Ren. What will it be?"

Ren looked frightened "I don't know…"

Ren looked at Mittens who appeared to give him a nod of assurance.

"Your right Mittens, just like Ben I'm not going to let this stupid door scare me anymore and I will _not_ live in fear!" Ren cried.

He looks at the door fiercely, tucks Mittens into his shirt and yells a battle cry as he charges toward the door.

"Alright, I'm good to roll!" Ren cried. He slams his fist through the small hole in the door.

Purple light emits from the hole sending Ren flying. He lands on the ground and watches as the chains on the door break and the door slowly opens up.

Five other different colored balls of light flew out of the door while a purple ball of light flies towards Ren and then phases itself into his body. His eyes glow purple. Then everything went dark.

In reality, Ren wakes up with a sharp gasp. He instantly stood up, huffing and puffing; he glances at Mittens who had just woken up as well.

"Oh man…" Ren said stunned, he looks at his hand, which was sweaty, and shaking "It was just a dream, why am I shaking?"

Ren was surprised when his hand starts to glow with a purple aura "Something's happening to me…"

He glanced at his cards where the purple mist had just retreated. He rushed over to his deck and took out the card he found earlier which also glowed purple.

"Hmm, I have no idea what's going on here Mittens." Ren said, he looks towards her then looks at his hand "But something tells me, this… power… may be just what I need,"

Ren walks back to his bed and sat back down next to Mittens who leaps onto his lap and looks at the card in his hand.

He turns to Mittens "But I'm going to need your help if I'm going to beat him, you in?"

Mittens meows in reply and seemed to smile.

"Alright, I guess we're _both_ good to roll!" Ren declared.

* * *

Mason, along with Zoey stand in front of the Duel Dome with Francis and his goons, expecting Ren to show up at any second. But for some reason he has not shown up yet

Colton spoke up "So where is he?"

"I'll bet he chickened out!" Haden added.

Francis laughed "So much for your little friend! I knew the little twerp wouldn't show!"

"Oh zip it, you big lug!" Zoey snapped annoyed "He'll show!"

"Yeah, sure," Francis said unconvinced.

Having enough of Francis's talking Mason sits up and looks him in the eye "Look, I know Ren and he'll come and when does he's gonna kick your can across the street and back!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say bro," Francis stated unconvinced "Just now that if he's not here in one minute he forfeits,"

Zoey growled at Francis and looked toward the open road thoughtfully "_Come on Ren, where are_ you?" She thought.

"Hey, look!" Haden cried as he pointed up ahead. Everyone turns around and sees Ren, with Mittens in tow, riding towards them on his bike. He skids to a stop in front of them.

"Hey, sorry I'm late!" Ren apologized.

"And here I thought you had chickened out," Francis said.

"Well you thought wrong muscle head." Ren retorted.

Mason then noticed Mittens, who was tucked into his shirt "So uh… Ren? What's with the cat?"

Ren then remembered, "Oh yeah, right! This is Mittens, I found her abandoned inside a box while I was walking home, and Grandpa let me keep her too! Mittens those two are my best friends Zoey and Mason those other three… those other three are bullies,"

Francis and his goons glare at him.

"Aw, she's so cute!" Zoey said as she started fawning over Mittens.

"Ok… anyway, let's start the duel, so get set to get decked, Francis!" Ren said to Francis "Or are you too chicken to face m?

"Sure, but get rid of the furball first!" Francis demanded, "She'll only get in the way!"

"I really admit it, but… he has a point," Mason added.

"No way dude, Mittens stays with me, she and I are a packaged deal, got it?" Ren asked.

"Her funeral, not to mention yours too," Francis shrugged with an evil grin "Let's get this over with, my boys are just itching to set up shop here,"

Ren glared at Francis as he led them all toward one of the Duel Domes.

They all arrived at a red dome called Dome A01, the doors open in front of them.

"The others stay out here," Francis said. Ren looks towards his friends.

"Don't worry Ren; we'll be watching you from outside, just kick his butt!" Zoey stated loudly

"True that," Mason nodded. Ren smiled at them.

Ren and Francis, with Mittens in tow, enter the large dome.

Ren let out a low whistle. "Wow!" he cried, "This is the sweetest dueling arena I've ever seen! It looks totally state of the art,"

Mittens meowed; she seemed to agree with him.

A large dueling field took up the center of the arena, and metal panels shone on the walls.

"Ok bro, you know the drill; we each start with 4000 life points, first one to hit zero loses!" Francis explained, "Are you ready to play, runt?"

Ren looked down towards Mittens "What do you say, Mitts? Want to waste some time trouncing this blockhead?"

Francis glared at him "Hey! Are you going to keep talking to your cat or are we going to duel?"

"Ok, let's do this, but I got to warn you I've never lost a Duel before!" Ren warned.

"Never say never!" Francis sneered.

"_The Duel between Ren Kastler Vs Francis Fitzgerald will now begin!" _The Computer announced.

"GTR!" Ren and Francis shouted.

Both Duelists activated their Duel Disk's and each started with 4000 life points.

Ren fanned out his Duel Disk and held up five cards; good he had some of his favorites in his hand.

"Ok, since I'm the challenger I'll start and I'm going to start by summoning Headless Knight in attack mode!" Ren said.

He placed a card on his Duel Disk, and an image of the card appeared on the field in front of him.

After placing the card on the Duel Disk, the image materialized in front of them on the field. The figure had shining beige armor, a red cape, a sword, a shield. The only thing it lacked was a head. His attack points flashed 1450.

It's attack points flashed 1450.

"I'll also slap down these two facedown's," Ren added. Two facedown cards appear in front of Ren.

He places another card into his Duel Disk, which appears face down on the field.

"All right!" Ren cried, "Prepare for some dueling action, Mittens!"

Ren waited patiently to see what kinds of cards Francis would play.

"Ok, my move!" Francis cried as he drew a card "And I'll I start off by bringing out the mighty Battle Ox!"

A humanoid ox wearing red and gold armor and carrying a massive axe appears on the field. It snorts loudly and growls.

It's attack points flashed 1700.

"Heh, nice card, I can see the resemblance," Ren quipped.

Francis growled "Watch it you little creep! And watch as my Battle Ox breaks your knight in half! Battle Ox destroy his Headless Knight with Axe Slam Attack!"

Battle Ox charges toward Ren's Headless Knight, jumped upward and with one swipe of his axe, shattered Headless Knight.

Ren's life points went from 4000 to 3750. He places his Headless Knight card in his graveyard slot.

"So, it looks like your knight just lost a lot more than his head, bro," Francis smirked.

"Wrong blockhead, I assure you that you haven't seen the last of my monster," Ren told him as he drew a card "Now observe and learn. I reveal my face down card,"

Ren presses a button a Ren's card flips over "And it's Shallow Grave,"

A black coffin appears in front of Ren. It had a large white cross on the front of it.

"This card allows me the bring back a monster and summon it to the field in defense mode," Ren explained, a card pops out of his graveyard slot "So welcome back Headless Knight,"

He holds it up for Francis to see and puts it back on his duel disk. The coffin's lid then slid off and Headless Knight then rose out of it.

It's defense points flashed 1700.

"Look it Francis!" Haden cried "The headless guy came back from the grave!"

"Wake up, Haden!" Colton told his friend "Battle Ox still has more attack points then that lousy knight!"

"Oh yeah, you got a point there, C," Haden said.

Francis scoffed "Sorry bro, but it looks like you're not that good at Math. Cause even though your brought your little knight back it's attack points are still not enough to beat Battle Ox,"

"Ok, now I know my monster may be too weak to fight your monster but watch as I trade it in to summon a creature much stronger," Ren told the bully.

"Trade it in? What's that mean?" Zoey asked.

"Duh, he means he's going to tribute summon a stronger monster," Mason replied.

"Oh yeah! So, that's why he brought back Headless Knight" Zoey realized "Awesome move!"

"I sacrifice Headless Knight in order to summon Earl of Demise!" Ren cried.

Headless Knight disappears from the field and was replaced by a ghoulish looking figure wearing and old fashioned red and yellow outfit and carrying a long sword.

It's attack points flashed 2000.

Francis's eyes widen "Oh no, my Ox is goner!" he cried.

"Sure is!" Ren said "Earl of Demise, attack with your Sword of Burial!"

Earl of Demise flew toward Battle Ox and with a one slash of his sword he cut Battle Ox into two before it shattered.

"No! Battle Ox!" Francis cried.

Francis's life points dropped to 3700.

"Hey, bonehead!" Ren called out "You done? Or do you I need to give you some more punishment?"

"We'll see which one us is a 'bonehead' when I do _this!_" Francis growled as he drew a card "I summon my Mystic Horseman!"

A half-man, half-horse creature with blond hair appears on the field carrying a spear.

"Next I'm gonna play Premature Burial!" Francis added. Battle Ox then appears on the field. Look familiar? This spell card costs me 800 life points but since it brings Battle Ox back it's a price I'm willing to pay,"

Francis's life points dropped to 2900.

"Next I'm going to activate my Polymerization card!" Francis continued.

"Polymerization?" Zoey inquired.

"It allows you to fuse two monster together to create an even stronger monster," Mason explained.

"I know what it does!" Zoey snapped.

Both of Francis' monsters turned into balls of light which then merged together into one giant ball of light. When the light faded a new monster stood before Francis and Ren. It's upper half resembled Battle Ox but it's lower half was that of a horse. It carried a massive axe in its hand.

It's attack points flashed 2000.

"Behold… Rabid Horseman!" Francis cried.

Rabid Horseman snorted at Mittens angrily. Apparently frightened, Mittens slunk deeper into Ren's shirt. He took a moment to scratch her head. "It's ok, Mittens," Ren said comforting his pet "That big ugly monster is not gonna hurt you,"

"But it _is _going to hurt _you_ bro!" Francis told him "Next I'll upgrade my Rapid Horseman with Axe of Despair, giving it a very well needed power up,"

Rabid Horseman's axe disappeared only to be replaced with a larger version with added adornments to make it look more formidable and intimidating. It's attack points rose to 3000.

"Rabid Horseman, attack with Battle Axe Swipe!" Francis cried.

Rapid Horseman charges toward the Earl of Demise and with one slash of its axe, Earl of Demise is shattered into dozens of pieces.

Ren cringed as his life points dropped to 3050.

"Ouch, that's gotta sting," Mason remarked.

"Come on, Ren!" Zoey said.

"Ok, bonehead, you got stuff, I'll admit it," Ren told Francis "But I still got one more trick up my sleeve!"

Ren presses a button on his duel disk and his face down reveals itself.

"I activate the trap, Skull Invitation!" Ren declared "Now whenever we send card to the graveyard for any reason we'll lose 300 life points automatically!"

"Won't that damage you too bro?" Francis asked.

"Well you know what they say; you got to send life points to take life points," Ren stated "And I'll start with yours!"

Ren took a card and placed it on his duel disk.

"I summon Dragon Zombie!" Ren cried.

A undead dragon with purple and rotting flesh and a rancid odor appears on the field.

Its attack points flashed 1600.

"Then like you I'll also play Polymerization," Ren declared "And I'll fuse the Dragon Zombie on my field with the Snake Hair in my hand,"

A green skinned woman with multiple snakes for hair and wearing a blue robe appears on the field next to Dragon Zombie.

Both of Ren's monsters turned into balls of light which then merged together into one giant ball of light. When the light faded a new monster stood before Francis and Ren. It resembled a mammoth's skeleton only it's bones with golden and it's tusks were very long.

It's attack points flashed 2200.

"Behold… The Great Mammoth of Goldfine!" Ren cried.

"Not bad bro, but sending those cards away made you lose some points you know," Francis reminded him.

"I know, I know!" Ren snapped annoyed, as his life points dropped to 2150 "But that doesn't matter because I give a good plan,"

"Oh? And what's that?" Francis asked.

"This face down" Ren replied as he placed a card on the field "Come at me if want, unless your too_ chicken_,"

Haden grimaced when Ren said what he said just now "Oh he shouldn't have said that…"

Francis's fists trembled with anger "Why you… I'll show you whose a chicken!" he shouted enraged "Rapid Horseman! Charge!"

Rapid Horseman charged toward the Great Mammoth of Goldfine. It readies it's axe but Ren was ready for him.

"Gotcha! Go trap card! Malevolent Catastrophe!" Ren cried as his card revealed itself

"A trap?" Francis cried.

"Exactly and I owe it's activation to you bonehead," Ren explained "See when you declare an attack this trap destroys all spell and trap cards that are on the field, like your Axe of Despair for starters!"

Rabid Horseman's axe glows before it shatters into dozens of pieces.

Francis growled as his life points dropped to 2600 and Rabid Horseman's attack points returned to normal.

Ren's life points dropped 1850 though.

"It costs a few but believe me _this_ will be well worth the price, go Great Mammoth!" Ren ordered "Take out his Rabid Horseman!"

The Great Mammoth of Goldfine charges toward Rabid Horseman, who also charges toward the mammoth. But the Great mammoth manages to stab Rabid Horseman with its tusks, shattering it.

"I lose 200 life points," Francis growled, as he spoke his life points dropped to 2400.

"And because of my trap you lose 300 additional life points!" Ren reminded him.

Francis's life points dropped to 2100.

"Why you little…" Francis started to say, his fists shaking with fury.

"Uh, uh, uh, language Francis! Kids are watching," Ren reminded him.

"Who-hoo! Atta boy Ren!" Zoey cried "Kick this poser to the curb!"

"He's still got a ways to go, but it looks like he has everything under control," Mason pointed out "So I think he's in the clear,"

Zoey and Mason then hear Francis's goons chuckling evilly.

"What are you clowns laughing about?" Zoey asked.

"The fact that you dorks think your buddy is safe," Colton replied with a evil smirk.

"Did you honestly think _that_ was the boss's _only_ ace?" Haden inquired.

"Wait… if _that_ wasn't his best card… then what is?" Mason wondered out loud.

"Ok, you little punk, you got stuff, I'll give you that," Francis admitted "But I still got one last trick up my sleeve!"

"Oh this oughtta be good," Ren told Mittens as Francis drew a card. Francis glanced at the card and smiled evilly.

"Perfect!"

Ren raised an eyebrow.

"First I'll play one card face down then activate the spell card Monster Reborn to bring back my Mystic Horseman!" Francis declared.

As his life points dropped to 1800, Mystic Horseman reappeared on the field.

"Can I yawn yet?" Ren asked bored "Why bring that thing back?"

"So I can do this!" Francis replied "First I'll play my Cost Down spell to lower this monsters level to five, then I'll sacrifice my Mystic Horseman in order to summon Behemoth the King of All Animals!"

After Francis's life points dropped to 1200. Mystic Horseman vanishes and is replaced with a giant hulking beast with purple fur, a pink man, horns and razor sharp teeth and claws.

Behemoth's attack points flashed 2700. It growls at Mittens, causing her to yelp and sink into Ren's shirt. Ren strokes her head gently.

"It's ok Mitts," he assured his pet "That oversized mutt isn't gonna hurt you,"

"Yeah, but he's gonna hurt _you_!" Francis promised "Attack Behemoth! Destroy his Mammoth!"

The Behemoth charges toward the Great Mammoth then slashes it into two with its razor sharp claws. The blow back from the attack pushes Ren back a few feet.

"Ren!" Mason and Zoey cried.

Ren cringed as his life points dropped to 1150.

"And don't forget the 300 additional life points!" Francis reminded him.

Ren growled while his life pointed dropped again to 850.

"You got guts kid, I'll give you that, but now you got no monster, no face downs and no chance!" Francis declared.

Ren breathed out slowly as he surveyed the field in front him. Francis had his giant Behemoth Monster in front of him and Ren had nothing on his.

"Yeah, we'll see about that…" Ren said.

"Oh boy, Ren's a bit of bind here isn't he?" Zoey asked Mason.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he's got a plan and has everything under control," Mason said confidently.

The truth was Ren was thinking the exact opposite.

"_Oh man, what am I gonna do? I need a plan to beat this guy and I only have a few life points left_," Ren thought "_I'd better draw a good card now or else I'm sunk!"_

Ren suddenly felt a strange presence, but he couldn't quite make out what it was or where it was coming from. Mittens meows at him and gestures to his deck. Ren saw that his next card was glowing a purplish glow. He quickly dealt his next card.

It was a strange yet powerful card that he had never seen before.

"Where on earth did this come from?" Ren wondered, Mittens then began meowing and tapping the card with her paw "Ok… I'll take that as a sign to play it,"

Ren looks over his card "Yeah, this'll work,"

"Hey!" Francis called out "Are you gonna duel or just stare at your card all day!?"

"Keep your shirt on! I'm going, I'm going" Ren told him. "Now, to start I'm going to remove two Dark type from my graveyard,"

"Why are you removing your own monsters?" Francis asked.

"You're about to find out right now," Ren told him "Now by banishing these two monsters I get to summon an even stronger monster, called an Elemental Monster and to do that I have use a special kind of summon called 'Elemental Summon', so watch and learn bonehead!"

A dark cloud then appeared over their heads, Ren's body began to glow with a purple colored aura.

"Whoa…" Mason said, and that was the only word he could say at the moment.

"What's _happening _to him?" Zoey asked. Even Colton and Haden were at a loss for words.

"What's going on here?" Francis asked "What's happening?

The purple aura surrounding is then sucked into the cloud, thunder booms and purple lightning then strikes the field in front of them.

"I Elementally summon… Dusk, Warrior of Darkness!" Ren announced.

The black smoke slowly cleared to reveal a fierce warrior with razor sharp black, purple and dark blue armor, he had several red horns and red claws, fearsome yellow eyes behind his black and purple helmet and he had a black cape.

It's attack points flashed 2500.

Everyone was amazed by the monster that Ren had just summoned.

"Never seen _that_ card before," Zoey remarked.

"Where did Ren get _that_?" Mason wondered.

Francis did his best to keep his cool but the sight of Ren's new monster clearly scared him a little "So you got a tough monster, big whoop, I ain't scared of that thing?"

Ren's eyes glowed a bit, as did Mittens, as he smiled "You should be, once I activate it's special ability that is,"

"Special ability?" Francis questioned.

"Yep, ya see when it's summoned I get to remove one monster from the game, any monster I want…" Ren explained, then he pointed at Francis' monster "Like your Behemoth for starters!"

Francis went bug eyed "What!?"

"Dusk, send his filthy mutt packing!" Ren commanded.

A dark portal opened up beneath Behemoth and it started to sink. It roared and whined as it struggled to free itself, but no such luck, it sank and sank until it disappeared from the field. Growling Francis took his monster and put it in his back pocket.

"And_ that_… is why I'm a cat person," Ren quipped.

Francis checked his field and saw that he had nothing left to protect him "I'm wide open!" he realized.

"That's right and FYI dude this was my plan from the start," Ren informed him

"What?" Francis asked shocked.

"Yep, every move I made was to get you into this position. And now your gonna get out… the hard way, so… any last requests?" Ren asked with a smirk "Warrior of Darkness! Dark Obliteration!"

Dusk, forms a giant ball of dark energy in-between his palms, held it in the air and tossed it at Francis. As he did so Ren seemed to mimic his movements, as if they were the same being. There is a massive explosion which sent Francis flying right onto his back. His life points then dropped to zero.

"_Game, set and match, Winner; Ren Kastler_," The Computer announced.

"Game Over!" Ren cheered as he flicked his nose while Mittens meowed.

Outside the dome, Mason and Zoey cheered with joy while Colton and Haden looked absolutely stunned.

"He did it! He schooled him!" Mason cheered.

"Aw yeah, that's my boy!" Zoey cheered.

"Aw man, Francis lost…" Colton said in horror. The other one nodded.

Ren walks over to Francis and loomed over him.

"Ok, Francis, looks like I win so you guys will have to clear out and give those kids their cards back, got it?" Ren told him, he then noticed Francis' face "Hey, you ok, man?"

"I lost… but why don't I feel bad about it?" Francis wondered, looking very confused "Why don't I feel about it? Huh? Tell me why!"

"Well, maybe it's because you're a true duelist," Ren suggested.

Francis lifted his head up surprised. "Huh?"

"I mean it man, you got some moves!" Ren remarked as he bent down to Francis' eye level "For an ape anyway,"

"You… really think so?" Francis asked hopefully.

"Of course!" Ren nodded "And Mittens thinks so too,"

Mittens nodded and meowed.

"We should really duel again sometime," Ren said "I had a heck of a time figuring you out"

"Really? After everything I said and did?" Francis asked.

"Doesn't matter, what _does_ matter is that you're a good duelist and I can't wait to duel you again," Ren said "Just make sure you return all those cards you stole, ok? Oh, and don't go acting like a jerk again or else… I'm gonna come after you, just to give you a heads up,"

Francis nodded "Sure thing,"

Ren offered him his hand before standing up "Come on, let's get out of here."

Francis looked surprised, then he smiled and took Ren's hand as he helped him up.

The two walk out of the dome together where Ren was greeted by his friends, who came rushing over to him. While Francis walked off with his crew.

"Why to win Renny boy!" Zoey said.

"Yeah, that was totally off the hook!" Mason said.

"Thanks guys, and boy that was a good duel. I can't believe I won," Ren said to them.

"Say Ren, what was that purple light show you showed off earlier?" Zoey asked.

"Yeah, and how'd that card get inside your deck in the first place?" Mason added "I never seen it before, OR an elemental summon for that matter,"

"Well, guys it's kind of a long story," Ren stated.

"Well, whatever the heck it is, it sure is wicked!" Zoey remarked.

Ren chuckled. "You got that right,"

He took out his Warrior of Darkness card and looked at Mittens. "Actually, we _both_ won this duel, together, and from here on out, you and I… will be _partners_,"

Mittens winked at him in reply.


	2. A Rival Appears

**Yu-Gi-Oh! GTR**

**Episode 2: A Rival Appears**

It was just another ordinary day in Mirror City, the sun was shining, birds were flying and duelists from all over were making their way to the Duel Dome to having some good old dueling fun.

All throughout the dueling center kids were lined up at the Duel Domes waiting for their chance to Duel and in all of them kids were having fun. Some of them won, some of them lost and many didn't care whether they won or not, all they cared about was the game itself.

In the commons area, kids were also hanging out, chatting and trading cards with their peers. One kid in particular was showing his friends all this cards, much to their amazement.

"Wow! Would you look at all those rare cards?" One kid remarked.

"Man, you are so lucky Oswald!" Another stated.

Oswald Massey was a brown haired kid with brown eyes, who was showing them his cards smiled proudly "Yeah, I'm kinda proud of them too,"

They all laughed cheerfully till a tall shadow, belonging to large figure looms over them. Their laughing suddenly ceases.

The large figure spoke with a scratchy and gravelly voice.

"Hey! Mush brain," The large figure said to Oswald.

"Uh… yeah?" Oswald asked nervously.

"How about you and I have a little Duel?" He asked.

"Uh…" Oswald started to say.

The large fellow got angry "Hey kid! I ain't got all day! Speak!"

Oswald yelped "Uh… ok! I'll duel you!"

The large fellow smirked evilly.

It wasn't long before they were in a Duel Dome and the large fellow had already gained the upper hand. Inside there is a large sea of flames, with the large and scary looking fellow standing in the middle of it. A pair of yellow eyes opened up above him as a large burst of flame is sent straight towards Oswald, who screams in horror as the ball of fire hit him. His life points dropped to zero.

Oswald laid on the floor of the dome groaning in pain as his cards scattered all around him.

The large fellow laughed sadistically "One down… next; Ren Kastler,"

* * *

Meanwhile, at a local high school called Mirror City High, Ren was doing was doing what he usually did after school; Playing Duel Monsters at the back of the school.

He was facing off against a teen wearing a blue hoodie and spiky black hair; he had two monsters on his field while Devin only had one monster and one card face down. His was Mefist the Infernal General. It was a wicked looking monster in armor riding an armored horse.

Mittens watched them Duel whilst tucked into Devin's shirt. Zoey was watching also.

Mason walked over to Zoey.

"Hey, what I miss?" Mason asked.

"Not much, Ren was a little shaky at first but now he's got a pretty good lead," Zoey explained. "He's pretty much managed to drive this guy into a corner,"

"I wouldn't be celebrating just yet, sure Vorse Raider is pretty fierce but the monsters the other guy has are tough cookies with high defense points," Mason pointed out. "But knowing Ren, I'm sure he has a plan,"

The teen sneered "Ok kid pop quiz, you got two monsters staring you down, do you _A_: Throw in the towel, _B: _Beg for Mercy or _C_: Run home to momma?" the teen asked but Ren remained calm. Mittens gave him a wink and Ren smiled before turning to his opponent.

"I'll go with _D_, None of the above!" Ren replied.

"A trap?" the teen sounded surprised.

"Exactly!" Ren responded "You see with Ring of Destruction, I can destroy any monster that's on the field in attack mode, and then we _both_ take damage equal to that monster's attack points!"

Devlin placed Ring of Destruction on his Duel Disk, and a glowing metal ring floated in the field. The Ring landed on Mefist's neck and began to glow with red light. Mefist roared in protest, and then _bam_!

Mefist exploded. Ren's life points dropped from 2000 to 200 while the teens went from 1300 to zero.

"Game Over!" Ren cheered as he flicked his nose while Mittens meowed.

"Yeah, that's my boy!" Zoey cheered.

"Nice one," Mason nodded "A move like that has to be calculated. It's a bold choice but Ren did it perfectly,"

Zoey nodded in agreement.

"I just hope he doesn't over strain himself…" Mason added, Zoey looked at him confused "Especially with that new monster in his deck…"

Mason's mind flashes back to when Ren first summoned Dusk, Warrior of Darkness, he remembered the purple aura around him and how Ren mimicked his monster's movements.

"_It's like he and that monster were in some kind of state of symbiosis_," Mason thought "_If that's true, then what could the side effects be_?"

The teen grunted with reluctant respect

"Nice move kid, good game," said the teen.

"Thanks, you too," Ren nodded "Well see you around,"

"Hey guys," Ren said "So, how'd I do?"

"That was tight duel, Ren," Zoey told him "Way to go!"

"Yeah, nice one," Mason said nodding.

"Thanks," Ren said smiling.

"Although, I would like to warn you about something," he added.

"What's that?" Ren asked.

"You should probably not use that new card of yours, at least unless you have to," Mason stated.

"What? Why?" Ren questioned "That card is awesome! And powerful!"

"That's the problem, it's too powerful," Mason said bluntly "Remember when you first summoned it? You body was surrounded by some… purple aura and when it attacked you did it at the _exact s_ame time. Almost as if you were the same being,"

"Oh yeah! I remember that!" Zoey realized.

"What? Your saying I shouldn't use that card anymore," Ren asked feeling somewhat betrayed and angry.

"No, only in case of emergencies," Mason told him "Since we don't know the full power of this card or what it could do you to, we have to be cautious. I'm just concerned that's all."

"Relax! I'm in complete control," Ren assured "Besides, it's not as If I'm going to get into a situation where I _absolutely _have to,"

"REN!"

Ren, Zoey and Mason heard a voice behind them. They turned and saw a skinny looking teen named Mikey Colon running towards them.

Mikey stopped when he reached them, he pants and pants, completely out of breath.

"Mikey? What's wrong?" Devin asked.

Mikey struggles to catch his breath "There's... some guy… at the Duel Dome… he's beaten nearly half of the duelists there! Some have even been seriously hurt!"

Ren, Zoey and Mason were shocked.

"What? He's beaten that many?" Devlin asked shocked "Just who is this guy?"

"I don't know but he's brutal!" Mikey replied "And he says he's after you!"

Ren was stunned, but it quickly changed into determination as he turns to the others "Come on, let's check it out!"

The others nod. Then the three friends ran off to the Duel Dome.

* * *

Ren, Mason and Zoey soon arrived at the Duel Dome and as soon as they reached the front entrance they see a young Duelist being carried away in a gurney by two doctors.

"Whoa, Mikey wasn't kidding when he said Sid was brutal," Mason remarked.

Ren watched the as the young duelist is loaded onto an ambulance and clenches his teeth, his hands shook with fury. Zoey notices this.

"Hey, Ren, you ok?" Zoey asked concerned.

"I'm fine it's just… ugh, who does stuff like this?" Ren asked "It just plain burns me up!"

"Speaking of which…" Mason said. He points at one of the screens in the Duel Dome.

Ren and Zoey look up at the screen and see a smaller and much weaker looking kid was dueling against a tall and muscular teen.

The muscular teen had wild and spiky blond hair, bushy eye brows, emerald green eyes and wore a red and black jacket with a high black collar and black pads on the side of each of his shoulders over a white t-shirt, blue jeans held by a brown belt and brown cowboy boots.

On his side of the field was a three headed dog coated in flames and piercing green eyes. His opponent only had a Basic Insect on the field.

"Alright Flame Cerberus attack his Basic Insect now!" The muscular teen cried.

Flame Cerberus charged up a fire beam in both of his mouths and fired upon Basic Insect, roasting it until it shatters. The impact of the attack sent his opponent flying into the wall of the Dome. His clothes were slightly scorched. His life points dropped to zero.

"_Game, set and match, Winner Sid Arkin_," The Computer announced.

"Not bad kid, I'm sure you're a real big shot amongst the playground crowd but I'm looking for someone tougher," Sid told the kid, who groaned in response.

Ren and his friends were shocked by Sid's playing

"That dude's harsh!" Zoey remarked.

"No kidding," Mason added.

Zoey then saw that Ren's hands were tightly clenched and trembling. She could tell by the look on his face that he was definitely angry.

"Ren? You ok?" she asked.

"Do I _look_ ok?" Ren growled.

"Hey, take it easy Ren!" Mason told his friend "I know your upset but there's no need to snap at her,"

"It's cool Mase, if they kid wants to take his anger out on me… so be it," Zoey said.

Ren sighed "I'm sorry, it's just… I _hate_ bullies! Hate 'em! That's why this guy needs to pay! You hear me?"

A voice answered him.

"I hear ya, but what are _you_ gonna do about it pipsqueak?"

Ren and his friends turned and saw Sid standing behind them smiling menacingly. Mittens sunk her head into Ren's shirt and shook and fear.

Ren's eyes narrowed when he saw him "Just who I was looking for," he said.

"Funny, I was just about to say the same thing," Sid admitted, he turned to Mason and Zoey and grunted "Now as for you two, go home to your toys children?"

"_Children!?_ Why you…" Zoey growled angrily, Mason grabbed her and held her back as she struggled to try and attack Sid.

"You better go back to where you came from pal," Ren warned "This isn't a place for bullies,"

"Yeah, so scram," Mason added,

Sid laughed "Surrender? To the likes of _you?_ Please!"

Ren growled angrily, this guy was really getting under his skin. Mittens looked at Ren concerned.

"Pretty big talk for a little kid though," Sid said "Come on, show me whatcha got,"

Ren was fired up for battle "If you're saying you want to duel, then I'll send you crying to your mommy!"

"Yeah, you better pay attention to what he says," Zoey added. "Ren here is the best Duelist in town!"

"Which is exactly why I came here looking for him ya numbskull!" Sid stated "He's also the reason why I trashed all those weakling duelists,"

"So… you hurt all those kids just to get my _attention?"_ Ren asked angrily.

"Yep! And it looks like it worked," Sid remarked "I knew you'd come running when you heard some 'bully' was terrorizing your favorite hangout,"

As Ren growled in anger the elemental card in his deck starts to glow and pulsate with purple energy. Zoey and Mason noticed this then to their surprise they saw that Sid's deck was doing the same thing.

Sid finally noticed this as well "Well, I see it's true, you ALSO have an elemental card," he said.

" 'Also'?" Ren questioned.

Sid reached into his deck box and took a card out of his deck. He flips it over to reveal an elemental card called 'Blaze, Warrior of Flame'. Ren and his friends gasp.

"You have one too?" Ren remarked.

"Yep, and in case you didn't realize these cards aren't ordinary," Sid told him "They hold extreme amounts of power, power that would change your life pretty much forever if you only knew how to unleash it,"

"What _kind_ of power?" Ren asked.

"Power like _this,_" Sid replied as he spots a kid holding smoothie inside the duel dome. His eyes glowed red and suddenly the kid's smoothie bursts into flames much to the kid's, Ren's and his friends surprise. Sid laughed amused. The trio looked like they couldn't believe what they had just witnessed.

"Whoa..." Ren breathed. "How'd you _do_ that?"

"Let's just say it's a little gift I got from my elemental card here," Sid explained

"That's… that's impossible!" Mason exclaimed.

"I don't know, it sure seemed convincing to _me!"_ Zoey remarked.

"Oh it's very possible," Sid told them "And that's just a _fragment_ of what I can do, you could probably do something like that to, but I doubt you'd be able to master it"

Ren growled and turned to Sid "Yeah, whatever! Power or not power I'm ready for you!"

"Ren, I don't think that…" Mason started to say but he was interrupted when Ren sidekicks him in the chin. Mason cries out in pain and drops to his knees.

"What, _he_ said," Zoey added.

Sid turned and started to walk away the stopped "Ok, let's meet tonight, before closing, winner take all, if you win I'll promise to never show my face around here, and believe me, I'm a man of my word,"

"And if I lose?" Ren asked.

"Then I'll take… your precious kitty cat AND your elemental card," Sid stated.

Ren gasped and looked at Mittens, who gave him an assuring look. He nods to her and looked at Sid.

"I accept," Ren said.

"Cool, see you then kid!" Sid said before laughing.

"OW! Man, that hurt!" Mason cried, he looked up to Ren "And you! What were you _thinking_!? Dueling this guy is _bad idea_ on so many levels, Ren!"

"I'm sick of hearing that Mason!" Ren told him "If this guy wants me, he can have me, and I'm gonna win, not just for myself… but for those kids as well,"

Ren started to walk away.

"I hope you do," Mason told him "Because if you lose… Mittens is gone… for good!"

Ren continued to walk away.

"Ren!" Mason cried out. But Ren was too far away to hear him, he sighed deeply.

* * *

Later, Ren was in his room looking through his deck of Duel Monster cards. He smirked as he looked through his powerful line up of monsters. But would he be ready to face Sid?

He then heard Mittens meowing at him and saw that she was looking at him strangely.

"Hey, don't give me that look, I know what I'm doing!" Ren assured her. Mittens meowed at him again "Trust me Mitts, _nothing_ is gonna happen to you. I won't let it,"

She meowed at him again, only louder.

"Yeah, I know, I know, I shouldn't have brushed Mason off like that," Ren admitted "Look, I know he's trying to help but he can be such a worry wart sometimes!"

"Well according to Zoey it's all the time,"

Ren looked up and saw Mason standing near his doorway.

"Mason!" he cried "How long have you been standing there?"

"Your gramps said you were in hear, plus… your door was open," Mason explained "Sorry, if I interrupted,"

"Nah, it's cool," Ren assured "I was just telling Mittens that she has nothing to worry about, same as you,"

Mason sighed and stepped into the room "Ren, I know you want to take this guy down and trust me after seeing those kids I want this guy out of the Duel Dome just as badly as you do,"

"So what's up?" Ren questioned.

"My point is, if you really want to beat this guy then your gonna need a strategy and back up strategy if needed," Mason told him. "And I think I can help you with that, if you'll let me,"

Ren looked up at his friend and could tell he was serious, he looked down toward Mittens who gave him a slight nod and sighed.

"Alright, tell me what you got in mind," Ren said.

"Ok… but before I begin I want you to promise me something," Mason stated.

"What's that?" Ren asked.

Mason walked over and bent down to look Ren in the eye "When you duel Sid, I don't want you to use your Elemental Card," he replied.

Ren was shocked "What?"

"I want you to remember that Sid has one too, and if _two_ of those powerful cards appear on the field at once… well we don't know what could happen," Mason said. "Just try using the other powerful cards in your deck,"

"Mason, that card is the most powerful card in my deck," Ren pointed out.

"And we don't know what over using it could do to you," Mason shot back "Just don't use it ok? At least if don't have many options or none at all, ok?"

Ren thought for a bit then sighed a very deep sigh "Ok, fine, I promise I won't use it, for real,"

"Thank you, now let's get strategizing shall we?" Mason asked.

He sat down in front of Ren, then noticed a black and gooey substance on his shoe, he looked greatly disgusted.

"Oh, how do you _live_ like this Ren?" Mason inquired "Haven't you ever heard of 'cleaning up'? Huh?"

Ren barely paid attention to him due to the fact that he was picking his nose, then when he noticed Mason glaring at him he smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"Ok, back to strategizing," Mason stated as he returned his focus to Ren's cards.

The two then began to come up with multiple strategies and ways of defeating Sid all over night.

* * *

The next day, while the sun was slowly setting and lightning up the sky with a fiery glow Ren and Mason were making their way to the Duel Dome with determined looks on their faces. They had been strategizing all night and made multiple plans to avoid using the Elemental card. Ren was ready to face his toughest challenge yet. Waiting for them was Zoey.

"About time you chowerheads showed up!" Zoey remarked annoyed "What took ya?"

"We had some stuff to take care of," Ren replied.

Zoey put her hands on her hips and looked crossed "Ugh, enigma is _so_ overrated you know,"

"Yeah, yeah, so where's Sid?" Ren wondered. A familiar gruff voice answered him

"Well, well, well, look who decided to show up,"

Ren turned and saw Sid standing right behind him smiling evilly.

"Sid!"

"In the flesh," he said. Both he and Ren approach each other and look at each other angrily "Are you ready to do or die, kid?"

"Always ready Sid always ready," Ren replied.

"Good, just remember that when I win your little kitty cat AND your elemental card are mine!" Sid reminded.

"And don't _you_ forget, that if _I_ win, you don't show your face around here _ever_ again!" Ren declared.

"_If_ you win, _if_," Sid stated.

"Why do you even _want_ Ren's card AND Mittens, anyway?" Mason questioned "What possible reason could you have for keeping them?"

"Well truth be told, the more elemental cards you have the power you _gain_," Sid explained as he created a small fireball in his hand, which disappeared when he clenches his fist "As for the cat, well, it's actually more embarrassing, see more of have a…"

"Trophy," Ren finished.

"Exactly," Sid nodded.

"You dirty…" Zoey growled.

"Cool it, Zoe, I'll deal with him," Ren told her.

"If you can survive that is," Sid pointed out "So, pipsqueak, you good to roll?"

"Always! Now let's go already!" Ren said before walking toward the dome. Sid soon followed.

"I sure hope whatever plan you two cooked up fires this loser," Zoey said to Mason.

"It better, it's all we have," Mason admitted.

Ren and Sid soon arrived inside the Duel Dome, which instantly lit up as soon as they stepped inside and took their places. Ren attached his duel disk to his left arm, and Sid did the same. His duel disk was red, with orange accents and a green gem in the center.

Ren pressed a button on his Duel Disk. It swung open, read to deal out the cards Ren would play during the duel. Across the field, Sid activated his Duel Disk as well. Both players started with 4000 life points.

"GTR!" They both cried.

Ren's heart quickly began to beat quickly. This was going to be some duel.

"All right! Time for some dueling action, Mittens!" Ren cried The Duel Disk shot out five cards into his hand.

"I'll start!" Sid cried as he drew a card from his deck. "I'll place one card face down and then summon my Fire Trooper!"

Sid placed a card on his duel disk and a small humanoid creature wearing a purple outfit appeared. It had a fiery head and hands.

"And now for its special ability! Now by sending it to the graveyard it can dish out 1000 points of damage!" Sid explained.

A massive heat wave hit Ren, causing both him and Mittens to sweat and pant as his life points dropped to 3000.

"Not bad," Ren admitted "But now your wide open!"

Ren drew a card and looked at the face down card in front of Sid. "_Mason warned me that whenever someone only has a face down in front of them it just means their setting you up for a trap," _Ren thought _ "So that must mean Sid __**wants**__ me to attack him, I'd better come up with another plan,"_

"My move!" Ren declared as he drew a card. "I think I'll play it simply and slap down one face down and a monster face down in defense mode, that's all,"

"So, you're not gonna attack a duelist when he's wide open and ready to be kicked?" Sid asked, Ren's eyes narrowed "Huh, I like that in a duelist, plus it gives me more time to strike back, not to mention now I actually have a nice target to shoot at!"

Sid drew a card and smirked when he saw what it was "I summon to the field Solar Flare Dragon!" he cried.

Sid placed a card on his duel disk and a long snake like creature with horns and covered in flames appears on the field.

It's attack points flashed 1500.

"Now Solar Flare Dragon, attack his face down monster now!" Sid ordered.

Solar Flare Dragon flew towards Ren's card, roaring a menacing roar.

"Whoa, is he nuts?" Mason remarked.

Solar Flare Dragon fired a ball of intense fire at Ren's face down.

"Oh yeah, he's definitely nuts!" Zoey stated.

The ball of fire impacted with Ren's card, creating a large explosion. When the smoke finally cleared, a ghoul with its body halfway into the ground appears on the field unharmed.

Sid was shocked but was even more shocked when he saw his life points drop to 3600.

"What? What's going on?" Sid demanded.

"Well now you've done it," Ren told him "My Earthbound spirit blocked your attack with its 2000 defense points and sent it right back at you, smooth move dorkahontas!"

Sid growled in anger "Why you…! Just don't forget this, during each end phase you lose 500 life points!"

Ren's life points dropped to 2500.

"And now that you've blundered, time for me to get to work!" Ren stated as he drew a card "I sacrifice my Earthbound Spirit to summon Earl of Demise!"

Earthbound Spirit was then sucked back into the ground and Earl of Demise then appeared in its place.

The ghoulish monster had 2000 attack points.

"Attack! Sword of Peril!" Ren commanded.

Earl of Demise flew toward Sid's solar flare dragon, lunging his sword out towards the beast.

Sid smirked evilly "I activate my Trap! Volcanic Curse!"

"What!?" Ren cried.

"This card activates when one of my fire monsters is being attacked, now my Solar Flare will gain 500 attack points for every fire monster in my graveyard," Sid explained.

Solar Flare Dragon's attack points jumped to 2000. The same as the Earl of Demise.

"They have the same attack points!" Zoey realized.

"Then they'll _both_ be wiped out!" Mason added.

Both monsters collided into each other, creating a massive explosion. Ren and Sid shielded themselves from the light and smoke until it finally faded.

"Well _that_ was dumb," Ren said.

"Wrong pipsqueak, take a good at the field," Sid told "Sure I may have fewer monsters, but _you_ have fewer life points, so tell me kid who here's the smart one now, hmm?"

"Looks like you miscalculated kid," Sid stated smirking smugly. "Now you have zero monsters and very few life points, it's only a matter of time before your little pussy cat is mine!"

Ren growled in frustration while Mittens whimpered in fear.

"Ren! You can do it!" Zoey cheered.

"_Come on Ren, just remember our plan_," Mason thought.

"Ok, I'm up!" Ren cried "And now that you have no monsters this is the perfect chance to activate this!"

"What?" Sid asked.

"I activate Enchanting Fitting Room!" Ren announced. A ghoulish cage with a red curtain appeared in front of Ren "Now by paying 800 life points I get to pick up the top four cards of my deck and if they happen to be level three or below monster I can summon them,"

As Ren's life points dropped to 1700, four cards appeared above Ren's head. There was one trap card and three monsters.

"Obviously Ring of Destruction is not a monster but Clown Zombie, Armored Zombie and Dragon Zombie are!" Ren exclaimed as an undead clown, warrior and dragon appear in front of him.

Clown Zombie had a ragged and rotting outfit and was missing an eye. It carried with it a long scythe.

It's attack points flashed 1350.

Armored Zombie wore armor that looks to be cracking, a few arrows were stuck in its back, it was also missing an eye and it's skin was green. He carried with him an old sword.

It's attack points flashed 1500.

Dragon Zombie had rotting purple skin and wings, yellow eyes and a foul breath. It dueled on the field.

It's attack points flashed 1600.

"Awesome! He managed to summon three monsters in one move!" Zoey exclaimed.

"Yes, and with their combined power it should be enough to take out Sid in one shot," Mason stated.

"Alright boys, attack Sid now!" Ren ordered, all three of his zombies charged straight towards Sid.

"_If I get hit by that I'll be toast_!" Sid thought.

He quickly took a card out his hand "I activate Volcanic Shield! Now the damage I take is halved!"

A shield made entirely of fire appears around Sid as Dragon Zombie, Clown Zombie and Armored Zombie attacked. Clown Zombie threw flaming knives, Dragon Zombie let out a breath of deadly air and Armored Zombie swung it's sword. All three struck the shield and barely managed to break through.

The shield then breaks and Sid is sent flying and knocked on his back, while his life points dropped to 1375.

"I'll place one card face down and that's it," Ren finished.

Zoey jumped in the air full of joy "Yes! Yes! Yeah! He got knocked on his rear! Way to go Renny!" she cheered.

"Nice Ren, just keep going," Mason said quietly.

"Hey!" Ren called out "Had enough?"

Sid groans as he slowly got back up on his feet, his head still lowered.

"You were better off when I thought you were just a weakling," Sid told Ren, which made him a bit confused "But now that I know how strong you _really_ are…"

Sid then looked at him with a fierce and scary glare as his eyes glowed red "Now I don't have to hold back!" he growled.

The look on his face made Ren, Mittens, Mason and Zoey flinch in fear and tremble a bit.

"Ooh… he's scary…" Zoey said.

"Yeah… I think Ren just pushed him to far…" Mason added.

"My turn!" Sid shouted "And I play the spell, Blaze Accelerator!"

A blaster with four legs appeared in front of Sid, aimed at Ren.

"But not for long! Because now I'll send to the graveyard to play Tri-Blaze Accelerator!" Sid announced.

Sid's blaster was then replaced by a gun with three long cannons and three legs.

"Now by sending one Fire type monster from my hand to the graveyard I can destroy one monster on your field and I have three," Sid explained.

"Oh no…" Ren breathed.

"Oh yes! And every time you lose a monster you get smoked with 500 points of damage!" Sid stated before sending three cards in his hand to the graveyard "Ok, Tri-Blaze Accelerator… fire at those three carcasses!"

The Tri-Blaze Accelerator made a charging sound before three large fire balls were all fired one by one out of each of the three cannons and into Ren's zombie trio. They were each smashed with a fireball and each shattered into pieces.

Ren cried as he was knocked over thanks to the shockwave and knocked onto his back.

Ren's life points dropped to 1000.

"Ren!" Mason and Zoey cried.

Ren groaned as he raised his head and upper body "You ok, Mitts?" he asked.

Mittens meowed in response to let him know that she was ok.

"But not for long!" Sid called out "Because thanks to you, you just woke a sleeping lion kid and now that it's awake it's gonna sink it's teeth… into _you_,"

Ren gulped as he looked into Sid eyes, full of fear, but quickly shook his head to shake it off, and looked at Mittens, who gave him a look of reassurance.

Ren looked up towards Sid "Yeah? Well just try it bub, because now the _real_ duel begins!"

"Well then… let's get it started!" Sid declared as his body starts to glow with a red aura.

"Yeah, let's!" Ren agreed as he also started to glow with an aura emitting from his body, also his was purple.

Both duelists stared each other down, with fire burning in each of their eyes, it was as if they had both declared each other to be their supreme rival and will stop at nothing to defeat the other. Mason noticed the aura's glowing around their bodies.

"_Something doesn't feel right_…" he thought.

"My draw now!" Ren cried as he drew a card. "And first I'm gonna remove two Dark type monsters from my grave!"

It didn't take long for Zoey and Mason to figure out what Ren was planning on doing just now.

"He's not…" Zoey said "He _can't_,"

"I think he _is_," Mason stated.

"Now by banishing these two monsters I get to summon my ace!" Ren declared.

A dark cloud then appeared over their heads, Ethan's body began to glow with a purple colored aura. On Sid's side of the field instead of fear on his face, he was smiling, rather madly and eagerly.

The purple aura surrounding is then sucked into the cloud, thunder booms and purple lightning then strikes the field in front of them.

"I Elementally summon… Dusk, Warrior of Darkness!" Ren announced.

Dusk then appeared in front of Ren's it's red eyes glowing brightly.

It's attack points flashed 2500.

"Man… why did Ren have to summon that?" Mason wondered.

"I guess he thought he had to…" Zoey suggested.

"Maybe…" Mason stated.

"So _that_'s what your elemental looks like," Sid said "Not bad, but it's _nothing_ compared to mine!"

Ren smirked "Then summon it and prove it! I end my turn,"

"What?" Zoey and Mason exclaimed in disbelief.

"Ok, you asked for it!" Sid exclaimed "I remove two fire type monsters from my graveyard!"

Flames appear all around Sid, Ren looks a bit surprised when he actually felt the intense heat making him sweat as if he was in a sauna.

"And those two banished I can Elementally Summon… Blaze, Warrior of Flame!" Sid announced.

A tower of flames erupts in front of Sid, and soon enough, something emerges from the flaming tower. A fierce warrior with red, yellow and orange armor and green eyes and a blue cape.

It's attack points were astonishing – 3000 attack points!

"So Renny boy, how do you like me _now?_" Sid asked Ren with an nasty smirk.

Ren couldn't reply. He stared at Sid's monster in shock, just like Zoey and Mason were, Mittens sank into Ren's shirt in fear.

Zoey looked at Ren. His eyes looked like they were popping out his head.

"Get a load of Ren," Zoey said "He's bugging out!"

Mason gulped "A giant flaming monster will do that to a guy!" he said.

Just then Ren's Elemental Monster began to glow with a purple aura, another glow caught Ren's eye; he saw that Sid's monster was also glowing, only with a red aura. Sid noticed this as well.

"Ah… looks like the cool part is about to begin," he said almost excitedly.

"The cool part…?" Ren echoed confused.

Suddenly, much to Ren's surprise, a purple symbol appeared beneath his feet, and started to generate energy that blew his hair straight up.

As that happened strange armor began to materialize around his body as a purple of ring started to fall around him. Armor also began to appear around Sid's body as well. Mason and Zoey watch in amazement, then after a flash of light the armor had full materialized around them.

Ren now wore purple and armor all over his body and on top of his regular clothes, including a helmet, elbow length gauntlets, a chest plate and knee length boats. His duel disk also changed into a purple and black shield shaped disk. The armor also had multiple scary looking spikes on it.

A red symbol also appeared beneath Sid's feet and the energy that it generated also blew Sid's hair up as well. Then a red circle appeared above him and started to fall around him, generating his armor.

Sid wore red, orange and yellow armor on top of his usual clothing that was shaped and edged like solidified flames. He also wore a helmet elbow length gauntlets, a chest plate and knee length boats. His duel disk also changed into a red and orange shield shaped disk.

Mason and Zoey just stood there, absolutely stunned.

"Whoa… how…?" Mason breathed.

"I don't know… but I like the suits!" Zoey exclaimed excited.

Ren looked at his new outfit with wonder and amazement, as did Mittens who was tucked inside a pocket on the front of the armor, Sid just smiled.

"Wha-what's with the… getup?" Ren asked.

"Oh nothing, it's just what happens when two people when both have elemental cards on the field," Sid replied "Told you these cards were powerful,"

Ren was still stunned.

"Oh and one more thing,"

A long, purple and black sword appeared in Ren's hand, then a red and orange sword then appeared in Sid's hand.

"When these two elementals are on the field, once per turn… we get to do _this!"_ Sid said before charging straight towards Ren with his sword, much to the shock of everyone else.

"What the…?" Zoey exclaimed shocked.

"Run Ren!" Mason cried.

Ren quickly raised his elemental sword and blocked Sid's attack. They both struggled they both pushed their swords in opposite directions. They then broke their little struggle and begin to fiercely swing their swords at each other in an epic sword fight. As they did so their elemental monsters themselves were also battling it out, mimicking the movements of their owners.

"Look like this duel just got interesting…" Zoey remarked.

Mason didn't speak, he just gulped in response as he continued to watch his best friend battle it out with Sid.

Eventually the battle ended and Ren and Sid stood apart from each other again but were still preparing to strike at any second.

Ren held his hand "Wait, wait, wait, what is this? Why are you trying to kill me?"

"It's not _my_ doing. It's what happens when two elemental monsters appear on the field, and whoever _loses_ this little sword fight loses 100 life points," Sid explained "Oh, and by the way, you haven't even _begun_ to see me try to kill you!"

Sid dove in to attack Ren once more. Ren attempted to block it but when Sid's sword impacted with his the shock wave pushed him back to his original spot.

Ren's life points dropped to 900.

Zoey grimaced sympathetically "Ooh… sword fighting; definitely not Ren's forte… _at all!_"

"No joke…" Mason muttered.

Both Ren's and Sid's armor then faded away from their bodies, as if they were blown away by a gust of wind. Ren pants for a bit, Mittens was shaking like an earthquake.

Sid laughed "Cool isn't it?" he asked "Oh, but you haven't seen _anything_ yet! My draw!"

Sid drew a card and pointed at Ren's elemental.

"Blaze destroy Dusk now!" he ordered. "Inferno Beam!"

Blaze begins to generate a small ball of intense fire that starts to grow and grow till finally it becomes a beam of fire aimed right at Dusk.

"I activate my face down, Negate Attack!" Ren cried.

A green barrier appeared around Dusk and deflected Blaze's inferno beam attack.

"Nice one Ren!" Mason exclaimed "Not only is his attack blocked but it ends the battle phase right away!"

"Gee Mase, are you always so full of such fascinating facts?" Zoey quipped.

Sid growled. "Ok, kid, you survived _this_ time, but next time you won't be so lucky!" he told him.

"Right back at ya!" Ren shot back. "Because now that I know more about these Elemental cards and what happens when they're both on the field I can send you flying into next week!"

"Yeah? Let's see if your sword can match your mouth!" Sid stated as a ring appeared around both of them and lowered, materializing their armor onto them.

"Oh, not again…" Mason moaned.

"Oh, yes again!" Zoey cheered. "Go Ren!"

Sid and Ren charged towards each other and clashed their swords again and again. Above them, Dusk and Blaze were also engaged in battle with each of them firing blasts of their individual elementals at each other and exchanging blows were their large fists.

Sid swung his sword sideways and towards Ren's head but Ren does a hand stand and uses his leg and smack Sid in the face. He then jumped back onto his feet, swung around and jabbed the chest plate of Sid's armor with his sword, knocking him back a few feet.

Sid's life points dropped to 1275.

Mason and Zoey smile and cheer.

"Yeah! That's how ya do it!" Mason said.

Zoey jumped up and down. "Go Ren! Go Ren! Go Ren!"

Sid growled, more mad then Ren had ever seen him before during their current duel. "Darn you… you're so dead!"

Both his and Ren's armor then faded away.

"_Ok, time to put the plan into action_," Ren thought, before drawing a card. "My draw!"

He scanned the cards in his hands and smiled "_Ok, that's the last piece, we're all set_," Ren thought to himself. He smiled at Mittens, who returns the grin then looks to the camera that Mason and Zoey were watching through and winks. Mason knew what this means and smiles as well.

Ren held up a card. "First, I play the trap card Alter for Tribute!" he cried. "Now my sending my Elemental card to the graveyard I can gain life points equal to its original attack points,"

This caught both Sid and Zoey by surprise.

"What!? But Dusk's his best card! Why would he get rid of it!?" Zoey exclaimed.

"Relax, he knows what he's doing," Mason assured.

"Yeah, because unlike me you know what he's thinking!" Zoey shouted annoyed.

Mason nodded. "Exactly,"

Zoey groaned and fell right over in exasperation.

Dusk faded away in large amount of sparkling purple dust, which sprinkled onto Ren. He smiled as his life points jumped to 3400.

"What? But Dusk was your own monster!" Sid cried. "What are you scheming?"

"Next I'll play two cards face down and play The 13th grave in defense mode," Ren continued.

A creepy skeleton with ragged clothes covering a bony body appeared on the field. It also carried a sword. The 13th Grave out a loud battle roar.

It's defense points were absolute zero

"A zombie?" Sid remarked in disbelief.

"You can do _better?_ Because I doubt it!" Ren retorted.

"Oh yeah? Well now I activate my Elemental's special ability! By removing one fire monster you take 1000 points of damage for each card in your hand and I count three!" Sid explained.

A wave of fire brushed past Ren, singing him a bit and making him cry out in pain.

His life points dropped to 400.

"I can use this effect when we both have monsters on the field," Sid stated. "Now, as you were chump,"

Ren groaned in pain but managed to shrug it off. "Next I'll activate one of my face downs; Zero Gravity!"

Ren's face down card revealed itself.

"Excellent! Now the battle positions of every face up monster switch!" Mason said happily.

The 13th Grave switched to attack mode. It's attack points flashed 1300. While Blaze switched to defense mode. It's defense points flashed 2500.

"So? Your bony boy _still_ doesn't have what it takes to stop my Elemental Knight, " Sid pointed out.

Ren smirked. "I'm not done! Next I'll activate my _other_ face down! Tragedy!"

Ren's trap card revealed itself. It had the image of a woman fleeing from some kind of monster.

"Oh? And what's _that_ suppose to do?" Sid questioned.

"Oh, nothing much…" Ren smirked. "But you see… it only activates when a monster on _your_ field switches to defense mode, and when it does all monsters on your side of the field are instantly destroyed!"

Sid's eyes widen when he realized what that meant. "Oh no!"

"Oh yeah!" Ren cheered. "Bye-bye, Blaze!"

Sid's Elemental Warrior suddenly shattered into a million pieces like a rock hitting a glass window.

"No!" Sid cried.

"YES!" Zoey cheered. "Way to roll, my little jelly roll!"

"My little jelly roll?" Mason echoed raising an eyebrow and smiling suggestively, making Zoey blush.

"That's uh… that's none of your business, ok!?" she snapped.

"Ha-ha! Now whose got less monsters, Sidney?" Ren questioned mockingly.

Sid looked at his field wide eyed and saw that it was completely empty. "Aw, man! I'm wide open!"

"That's right!" Ren nodded. "Now go 13th Grave, attack!"

The 13th Grave dashed towards a now petrified Sid before slashing him with his sword. Sid dropped to his knees as his life points dwindled to zero.

"_Game, set and match, Winner; Ren Kastler,_"

"Game Over!" Ren cheered as he flicked his nose while Mittens meowed.

Both Mason and Zoey cheered for joy, Zoey then hopped up and down in air yelling with glee.

"Alright, Renny!" Zoey cheered. "Way to whoop that doofus!"

"Nice one Ren," Mason smiled. "You beat your opponent and you did it without relying on your Elemental Card, well done,"

Ren looked towards Sid, who was still on his knees. "Well Sid, that's game. Now… knowing you, I'm guessing you're not gonna leave here quietly, am I right?"

Sid grunted as he stood up. "No." he replied, which surprised Ren. "Despite what you might think I really do have a code of honor. We made a deal and now I'm gonna keep my side of it. You won't see _me_ around here again," he assured Ren before pointing at him threateningly. "But just remember this small fry, you've just made my list and one of these days… I'm gonna beat you and wipe that smug smirk right off your little face, I promise you."

Ren nodded. "Sure, whatever. Now get out of here. And who knows? Maybe we can duel again soon someday." He said.

Sid growled at him one last time before turning to leave. As he walked off he began to rub his arm and groan in pain for some reason. Around the same time, Ren also began to feel a similar kind of pain throughout his body, much to the concern of Mittens. He felt the spot where Sid stabbed him, looked at his palm and noticed a bit of blood, there are even little burn marks on the spots where the flames from Sid's attacks licked him.

"Ok… that's odd…" Ren muttered.

* * *

Later, Ren was walking back home with Zoey and Mason in tow, talking all about the duel.

"Whew! That sure was intense duel Ren!" Zoey remarked.

"No kidding, I was sweating and I wasn't even in there!" Mason added.

"Yeah, I'm just glad I managed to keep Mittens." Ren said, rubbing Mittens' head affectionately. "Also, thanks for helping me come up with that plan Mace."

Mason nodded. "Anytime. I'm just glad you managed to win _without_ the aid of your Elemental Card. Although… I guess under certain circumstances you'll probably have no choice but to use it."

"No kidding." Ren agreed. His mind then began to wander back to Sid's elemental card. "Hmm, if there's _one_ more Elemental card out there… I wonder how many else there are?"

Zoey shrugs. "Beats me."

"I don't know either, but I doubt we're gonna be happy when we find out." Mason stated. He then noticed Ren rubbing his arm like he was in pain. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah… I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Ren assured him. "Now how about we all go for some cheese burgers with fries?"

"You talked me into it!" Zoey proclaimed excitedly. Mason looked a bit unconvinced by Ren's seemingly 'ok' attitude but decided not to ask anymore about it as he continue to walk down the sidewalk with them.

* * *

Elsewhere, in a old concrete warehouse with absolutely no one around an angry Sid Arkin was tossing large wooden crates into the stone wall in a fit of angry. They each broke into little wooden bits upon making impact with the wall.

"Impossible! Unbelievable! I actually LOST!" Sid shouted angrily before kicking a another crate into the wall. "That little runt is gonna _pay_, one way or another! Next time I'll…"

"Do you want to win against Ren Kastler?"

Sid turned to the source of the mysterious voice but was surprised when he saw that no one was around.

"Who's there? Hello?" Sid called out.

Suddenly there was a bright flash of pure white light that temporarily blinded Sid as it filled the room. When it finally faded Sid unshielded his eyes and saw a young boy about Ren's age standing in front of the entrance to the warehouse.

The boy was slim, an blindingly white from head to toe, having pale skin, gray eyes and snow white hair. He wore blue jean pants and a long-sleeved, white shirt.

"Do you want to win? Do you want to become even stronger?" the boy asked. "How about I grant that wish for you?"

"And who the heck are _you_ kid?" Sid asked.

"My name is of no importance, but you can address me… as N." The boy said.

"N?" Sid echoed.

"I can help you Sid Arkin, by first… you must come to The Light." N told him.

"The Light? Wait… how do you know my name?" Sid demanded.

"Oh I know a great deal about you." N stated. "Now if you truly want to defeat Ren Kastler I suggest you accept my offer while it is still in your grasp."

"How do you Kastler?" Sid inquired.

"Let's just say… we have a history." N replied. "Now join me and stand my side of purified warriors as we walk into The Light together! Only then will you be able to defeat Ren!"

"I… I… I don't know!" Sid exclaimed, struggling to decide what to do.

"You _do_ know, but the two sides of your soul are struggling, one that is fiery and dark and one that can see The Light!" N said. "Embrace The Light within!"

N held out his hand. "Join me."

After a long period of thinking Sid finally decided. "All right! Help me! Show me The Light!" he proclaimed.

N smiled evilly. "As you wish…"

Sid took N's hand. N then began to laugh evilly as his eyes flashed with a bright, white light right in front of Sid.


End file.
